Christmas Pud Chocolate Buttons

Here's a really quick last minute Christmas present idea.

You will need:

• a packet of Giant Chocolate Buttons

• Icing sugar to make water icing

• OR about 8 squares of white chocolate

• A piping bag with a fine nozzle

Something to decorate the top, cranberries, silver balls, red/green sprinkles

I made some with icing and some with melted white chocolate, the piping bit is the same whichever you choose.

If you choose to use icing just make up a bit of water icing: half fill a little bowl with icing sugar and add water just a drop at a time, mixing really well with a teaspoon until it forms thick icing. It needs to be thick enough to not spread everywhere but not so think that you can't pipe it.

Put it in the piping bag and pipe a icing outline on the chocolate button.

• Then fill it in with a rough wiggle of icing

• Then just prod at it with the tip of the icing nozzle till it spreads to fill in the gaps.

Piping chocolate and me are not BFF's however, it just solidifies in the nozzle for me! You have to be really quick so I recommend a helper to add the decoration for you if you use chocolate. I did try popping just the metal nozzle into a shallow bowl of hot water between piping's which helped a bit, I wiped it with a paper towel to dry each time but if anyone has any great tips for this I for one would be really grateful!

Now just pop whatever you fancy on the top to decorate, I experimented with a few ideas:

Mini Smarties -

Silver Pearls

 Little round cake sprinkles (not so happy with these, the colours aren't very bright)

Little chopped bits of cranberry (looked ok but they did keep dropping off so I was forced to eat this one!)

Then I found these lovely Christmassy sprinkles in TK Max:

These are my favourites, I know the green bits are supposed to be trees but close enough for holly I think!

Julie

I'll be linking up at all these great link parties